A major national security trial has begun in Hong Kong’s High Court against three veteran activists who led annual commemorations for the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Chow Hang-tung, 40, Lee Cheuk-yan, 68, and Albert Ho, 74, face charges of inciting subversion under Beijing’s 2020 law, with potential sentences of up to 10 years in prison. Ho pleaded guilty, while the others denied the accusations; all three have been detained since 2021.
The case centres on the now-dissolved Hong Kong Alliance, formed in 1989 to support Beijing’s pro-democracy students before troops crushed the protests, killing hundreds to thousands in an event erased from mainland memory.
For 30 years, the group organised unique candlelit vigils in Hong Kong demanding accountability and reforms, halted in 2020 amid Covid restrictions and never resumed.
Three government-appointed judges will preside over the 75-day hearing without a jury. Prosecutors target the Alliance slogan “bring the one-party rule to an end” as a call to overthrow central authority, rejecting pre-trial challenges including Chow’s bid to dismiss vague charges.
Supporters rallied outside court despite the chill. “This case is not about national security. It is about rewriting history and punishing those who refuse to forget the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Asia, told Reuters news agency.
Critics say the Beijing-imposed law, banning secession, subversion, terrorism, and foreign collusion, has curbed freedoms since 2019 unrest, though officials insist it ensures stability.